Conical radiant orchard heater

ABSTRACT

The radiant orchard heater of this invention generally includes a housing having an inverted cone shaped canopy distally disposed above a substantially cone shaped base portion having legs carried thereby, and a burner assembly centrally disposed in the invert or lowermost portion of the base portion. The burner assembly comprises a pair of opposing dish-like plates spaced apart by a plurality of upstanding legs and carried by a multiplicity of posts mounted in the invert of the base portion, an elongated tube-like orifice threadably carried at one of its terminal ends by the lowermost dish-like plate having a plurality of air mixing ports distally disposed above the opposite terminal end of the orifice, and means connecting the orifice to a remote fuel supply under pressure.

United States Patent 91 1 Smith [4 1 Feb. 13, 1973 CONICAL RADIANT ORCHARD HEATER 22 Filed: Jan. 25, 1971 21 Appl.No.:109,320

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,530,423 3/1925 Sheer ....l26/85AX 1,410,532 3/1922 Molby ..126/85 A 2,522,935 9/1950 Farrall ..126/59.5 2,628,609 2/1953 Bacon l26/59.5

FOREIGN PATENTS OR'APPLICATIONS 621,61 1 4/1949 Great Britain ..126/92 R 454,328 9/1936 Great Britain ..126/92 B Primary Examiner-Charles J. Myhre AttorneyJohn W. Kraft ABSTRACT The radiant orchard heater of this invention generally includes a housing having an inverted cone shaped canopy distally disposed above a substantially cone shaped base portion having legs carried thereby, and a burner assembly centrally disposed in the invert or lowermost portion of the base portion. The burner assembly comprises a pair of opposing dish-like plates spaced apart by a plurality of upstanding legs and carried by a multiplicity of posts mounted in the invert of the base portion, an elongated tube-like orifice threadably carried at one of its terminal ends by the lowermost dish-like plate having a plurality of air mixing ports distally disposed above the opposite terminal end of the orifice, and means connecting the orifice to a remote fuel supply under pressure.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures FATENIEDFEB 13 I975 FIG.

LESLIE v. SMITH FIG.

INVENTOR.

CONICAL RADIANT ORCHARD HEATER FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to orchard heaters and more particularly to orchard heaters being operable to uniformly radiate heat therefrom in all directions and being operable to recirculate products of combustion therein until substantially consumed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Orchard heaters used and employed in connection with elevating temperatures to control frost in orchards generally comprise two distinct types, namely smudging type which emits large volumes of smoke and other contaminants into the atmosphere and convection heating types. Those heaters in the former class are less desirable than the latter class because of their ecological effects upon atmosphere creating smog contaminating conditions. Because of large open tracts of land which must be heated the convection heating type is usually considered to be less efficient and extremely costly.

Accordingly, it is an extremely important object of this invention to provide an inexpensive radiant heater being operable to recirculate and consume products combustion within the heater and to radiantly generate heat therefrom.

A further object of this invention is to provide a radiant type orchard heater being operable to substantially reduce contaminant emissions from products of combustion into the atmosphere.

These and other objects shall become apparent from the description following, it being understood that modifications may be made without affecting the teachings ofthe invention here set out.

The radiant orchard heater of this invention generally includes a housing having an inverted cone shaped canopy distally disposed above a substantially cone shaped base portion having legs carried thereby, and a burner assembly centrally disposed in the invert or lowermost portion of the base portion. The burner assembly comprises a pair of opposing dish-like plates spaced apart by a plurality'of upstanding legs and carried by a multiplicity of posts mounted in the invert of the base portion, an elongated tube-like orifice threadably carried at one of its terminal ends by the lowermost dishlike plate having a plurality of air mixing ports distally disposed above the opposite terminal end of the orifice, and means connecting the orifice to a remote fuel supply under pressure.

A more thorough. and comprehensive understanding may be had from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the orchard heater of the present invention including means connecting the heater to a fuel supply line.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side elevational view of the invention taken substantially along the lines 3-3 ofthe FIG. 2 with support legs removed, showing to advantage the burner assembly of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of the invention with the canopy portion removed showing to advantage the burner assembly.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the invention as viewed from the side opposite FIG. 2 with the burner assembly of the invention removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to the FIG. 1 which shows to advantage the orchard heater of the present invention generally identified by the numeral 10. The heater 10 is provided with a housing 11 comprising a substantially cone shaped base portion 12 including a'multiplicity of upstanding support brackets 13 suitably, fixed, at intervals on the terminal edge of the base 12 and an inverted cone shaped canopy 14 distally disposed above the base portion 12 and suitably fastened to the brackets 13. The base portion 12 is provided with a mounting plate 15 suitably fastened to the invert or lowermost portion of of the cone shaped base portion 12. The housing 11 may be carried by support legs 16 suitably mounted to the plate 15 by brackets such as shown to advantage in the FIG. 5 and identified by the numeral 17. It has been found in practice to advantage to elevate the heater'l0 of this invention above the ground since the heater 10 tends to radiate heat uniformly from the housing 11 on all sides as hereinafter later more fully described. It also should be understood that the structure of the housing 11 may be modified to include a substantially cylindrical stove pipe-like body portion spacially disposed between base portion 12 and the canopy 14 without substantially affecting the mode of operation of the heater l0 later described.

The FIG. 3 advantageously shows the details of construction of the burner assembly 18 forming a part of this invention. The assembly 18 comprises a dish-like orifice mounting plate 19 carried by a multiplicity of support posts 20 suitably mounted on the base portion 12, a flame spreader plate 21 distally disposed above the orifice mounting plate 19 and carried by a multiplicity of upstanding legs 22 suitably mounted on the orifice mounting plate 19, an elongated, tube-like orifice 23 threadably mounted in the invert or lowermost portion of of the dish-like plate 19, and means connecting the orifice 23 to a remote combustible fuel supply source such as the pipe 24. It has been found to advantage to provide flexible pipe for the means 24 for the reason that the orifice 23 may be adjustably selectively positioned in the plate 19 with respect to the flame spreader plate 21 as hereinafter later described without disconnecting the orifice 23 from a pipe 24. An

entranceway 25 is provided in the mounting plate 15 and the base portion 12 through which the orifice 23 may pass to be connected to the plate 19. A multiplicity Y of air mixing ports 26 are provided in the side wall of means may be provided on the orifice 23 adjacent each of the respective ports 26 to adjustably control the quantity of air to pass through the ports 26 and thereby control the rate of burning of the fuel. The burning fuel flame is conducted through the elongated, tube-like orifice 23 and directed against the flame spreader plate 21 and is deflected thereby generally outwardly and downwardly toward the dish-like orifice mounting plate 19. The plate 19 and the plate 21 tend to uniformly direct the flame outwardly therebetween. The housing 11 being substantially enclosed tends to collect heat generated and dispersed by the burner assembly 18. Hence the canopy 14 and the base portion 12 uniformly radiate heat about the housing 11. It has been found that a greater volume of the products of combustion are consumed in the heater of this invention, thereby substantially reducing polluting emission contaminants into the atmosphere.

Having thus described in detail a preferred apparatus which embodies the concepts and principles of the invention and which accomplishes the various objects, purposes and aims thereof, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that many physical changes could be made in the apparatus without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. Hence, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

1 claim:

1. In an orchard heater the combination of a housing comprising -a conical canopy and an inverted coneshaped base portion, said canopy being distally disposed above said base portion, means mounting said canopy on said base portion, a burner assembly mounted in the lowermost portion of said base portion, said burner assembly comprises a dish-like orifice mounting plate carried by a multiplicity of support posts suitably mounted distally from the lowermost portion of said base portion and in said housing, a substantially concave flame spreader plate distally disposed above said orifice mounting plate being carried by a multiplicity of upstanding legs suitably mounted on said orifice mounting plate, said housing substantially enclosing said burner assembly, an elongated tube-like upstanding burner portion including an orifice at the lowermost end thereof, means connecting the terminal end of said burner to a remote source of fuel under pressure, said burner including a multiplicity of ports distally disposed in the side wall of said orifice adjacent said connecting means. 

1. In an orchard heater the combination of a housing comprising a conical canopy and an inverted cone-shaped base portion, said canopy being distally disposed above said base portion, means mounting said canopy on said base portion, a burner assembly mounted in the lowermost portion of said base portion, said burner assembly comprises a dish-like orifice mounting plate carried by a multiplicity of support posts suitably mounted distally from the lowermost portion of said base portion and in said housing, a substantially concave flame spreader plate distally disposed above said orifice mounting plate being carried by a multiplicity of upstanding legs suitably mounted on said orifice mounting plate, said housing substantially enclosing said burner assembly, an elongated tube-like upstanding burner portion including an orifice at the lowermost end thereof, means connecting the terminal end of said burner to a remote source of fuel under pressure, said burner including a multiplicity of ports distally disposed in the side wall of said orifice adjacent said connecting means. 